African Journal of Public Affairs Volume 4, Number 3 (2011)

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/2263/59606

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Front matter, African Journal of Public Affairs, Volume 4, Number 3
(African Consortium of Public Administration, 2011)
An analysis of metropolitan governance and institutional issues in South Africa
(African Consortium of Public Administration, 2011) Cameron, R.; Milne, C.
The main objectives of this article is to gauge to what extent metropolitan governments have led to the improvement of service delivery and to investigate how the existing governing and institutional frameworks are working for metros. Evidence suggests that the creation of widely drawn single-tier municipalities encompassing the whole city is a better governing model than the two-tier system. It has also led to the embodiment of the one city, one tax base slogan. It has also contributed to improved service delivery although there are still backlogs due to inmigration. There is evidence to suggest ordinary councillors are not communicating effectively with their constituencies. Part of the problem is that they do not have delegated powers and functions, even though they have constituencies to which they are accountable. The local government electoral system of 50% ward councillors and 50% proportional representation (PR) councillors has led in some cases to bloated councils with a number of PR councillors contributing little to the governing function. While there are some ward committees that are functioning, the evidence suggests that the majority of these structures are not working particularly well. They are too politicised and do not appear to promote public participation. Literature suggests that there is limited public participation in integrated development plans. Community Development Workers do bring some benefits to metropolitan municipalities and support councillors in some instances. However, there is some concern about their relationship with elected councillors and the implications for democratic accountability.
The impact of culture on performance appraisal reforms in Africa : the case of Uganda’s civil service
(African Consortium of Public Administration, 2011) Karyeija, G.K.
This article explores administrative culture and examines its impact on performance appraisal reforms in Uganda’s civil service. It reveals that Uganda’s bureaucracy is characterised by large power distance, strong uncertainty avoidance, high ethnicity adherence and political neutrality. Research findings indicate that these cultural variables influence the performance appraisal by sabotaging its actual implementation and undermining its institutionalisation. The study supports the use of power distance and uncertainty avoidance by various scholars to analyse the linkage between administrative culture and instruments of management. The additional dimensions of political (neutrality) biasness and ethnicity pursued are highly relevant additions to the literature. It is argued that for the successful introduction of performance appraisals, culture matters. Although the Ugandan government introduced appraisal reforms, incompatibility between the values embedded in the appraisal and the host administrative culture watered down the reform.
The challenges and prospects of civil service reform and good governance in Ethiopia
(African Consortium of Public Administration, 2011) Kassa, C.B.
The major purpose of this study is to assess the challenges and prospects of good governance and civil service reform in Ethiopia. A descriptive survey method was employed to conduct the research: questionnaire, interview, document analysis and focus group discussion were used as data gathering tools. Purposive and random sampling methods were used to select the sample of respondents. The finding of the study revealed that good governance and civil service reform in Ethiopia experience some challenges: Incompatibility of people’s attitude and change requirements; unable to set a clear roadmap for the reform programme; holistic and similar approach to all sectors at the time without considering contexts; lack of expertise in the area of reform; lack of communication strategy to address all stakeholders; people’s resistance to reform due to job insecurity; inability to coordinate political leadership with civil servants’ roles; and a weak monitoring and evaluation system were some of the challenges observed in the civil service reform programme of Ethiopia. Parallel to these challenges there are some prospects for good governance in Ethiopia: leadership commitment; education and training programme; customer service orientation opportunities for benchmarking; and donors’ support for the programme were most important prospects for good governance and civil service reform. In the process ensuring governance and civil service reform the key learning points were: Reform should have a clear roadmap; political leadership commitment and competency communication strategy; capacity development programme; contextualisation; strong monitoring and evaluation system of its efficiency and effectiveness; and finally good governance and civil service processes play key roles for overall development of the country.
Adopting an appropriate leadership approach to improve public service delivery in South Africa
(African Consortium of Public Administration, 2011) Naidoo, Goonasagree
The major challenge is that despite intense endeavours directed at improving public service delivery, lack of, or mediocre delivery continues to plague South African communities. Within the growing literature on public service delivery in South Africa (SA), it has become evident that the root causes of many service delivery problems are critical shortages of upcoming leaders, lack of appropriate leadership skills, underperformance, and the adoption of inappropriate leadership approaches, with no or little consideration to local needs and context. These factors have affected the leaders’ ability to ensure that policy should lead to expected outcomes. This article explores leadership approaches adopted in SA’s public service departments and highlights the reasons for its inability to promote effective service delivery outcomes. It explores which leadership approaches tend to be associated with effective organisational performance and service delivery outcomes. It suggests the adoption of an appropriate leadership approach that is relevant to the SA public service needs and context. Given the needs of the SA public service, it is argued that no single leadership approach would be appropriate in addressing the diverse needs of SA communities. This leadership approach suggested entails a combination of appropriate multiple leadership approaches that are critical in improving service delivery in the South African public service.
Role of selected higher educational institutions in inculcating an ethical ethos in local government in South Africa : a curriculum review perspective
(African Consortium of Public Administration, 2011) Pillay, P.; Subban, M.
The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 makes provision for three spheres of government: national, provincial and local government. Local government is the third sphere of government, closest to the people and is responsible for service delivery in that sphere. The challenge is the manifestation of corruption across local government. According to Williams (2000:ix), corruption is a deviant and transitory activity. History is replete with cases of bribery, embezzlement, fraud, abuse of power, maladministration, nepotism, conflict of interest and the like. Corruption displays many negative consequences: weakened service delivery, misdirection of public resources, inhibiting growth, alleviating poverty and loss of trust by society (in Webb 2005:153). Therefore, anti-corruption reform is high on the political agenda in South Africa. In view thereof, this article introduces a paradigm shift in addressing corruption in local government. The researchers support the views expressed by Alperstein (2007:62-64) that institutions of higher learning should play prominent roles in instilling values, becoming more socially responsive to community development and producing new knowledge and graduates who are critical yet responsive citizens by reviewing its curriculum development. It stands to reason that higher education is often celebrated as the powerhouse and engine’ for development, and central to this mandate is the design and function of curricula in Higher Education Institutions (Prinsloo 2010:19). Hence, the key focus of the discussion is an overview of curricula of Local Government modules at both undergraduate and postgraduate programmes at selected institutions of higher learning in South Africa. The aim is raising awareness on ethical issues and evolution of a culture of zero tolerance towards unethical behaviour in municipal practices. The article supports a need for debate and discussion on diverse methodologies and approaches as a starting point to the ethical enquiry. Ethics education is becoming more complex and entails new learning approaches in addressing its complexity. There is a paradigm shift in the debate and discussion about teaching and incorporating a focus of ethics in the curriculum from a mere incorporation into the curriculum, to what are the best methods and pedagogies for teaching ethics.
Enhancing insights on the knowledge management competency for South African senior public service managers : conceptual and practice perspectives
(African Consortium of Public Administration, 2011) Sing, D.
The 21st century knowledge-based reality poses daunting challenges for the senior public service managers of the South African Public Service. Enhancing insights on and understanding of critical concepts and practices are becoming increasingly vital for senior public service managers to engage in impact-driven and effective knowledge management. Knowledge management is one of the core management competencies required by the performance management and development framework as stipulated in the 2003 Public Service Handbook (Senior Management Service). This article is a value-adding attempt to describe and explain critical concepts and practices that underpin, support, and enable knowledge management which is a prerequisite for high quality performance and effective public service delivery. Understanding the types of knowledge and the distinguishing terms of the hierarchical building blocks for relationship enables conceptual clarity and concise application. The importance of knowledge sharing as a key process in knowledge activities is emphasised. Enabling and promoting communities in supporting knowledge interactions are vital. Knowledge management as a human-centric activity requires insights into the elements of intellectual capital. A human-centric process also requires the nurturing of the human values as an important enabler. Leadership action is necessary to create a supportive and an influencing environment for knowledge management.
Challenges facing the South African developmental state
(African Consortium of Public Administration, 2011) Sokhela, P.
Public Sector Barometer, a forum for eliciting debates and commentaries. Challenges facing the South African developmental state by Sokhela, P.
Reporting on performance against pre-determined objectives : the case of South African national government departments
(African Consortium of Public Administration, 2011) Van der Nest, D.P.; Erasmus, Lourens J.
In South Africa it is a legislated requirement for government departments to report annually on the performance of the entity against predetermined objectives. However, reporting this non-financial information on service delivery performance still proves to be a challenge for many organs of state. The purpose of this paper is to perform an adequacy assessment and compliance analysis of the reporting of performance against pre-determined objectives by national government departments in South Africa. The results of this study clearly indicate that major deficiencies still exist in the reporting on performance information. In this article specific shortcomings were identified and recommendations made.
Effectiveness in policy administration : the case of the LRAD programme in the North West Province of South Africa
(African Consortium of Public Administration, 2011-12) Thornhill, Christopher; Matshego, M.C.; chris.thornhill@up.ac.za
This article presents the challenges of administering the Land Redistribution and Agricultural Development (LRAD) programme in the North West Province of South Africa. The LRAD, which was launched in August 2001, is a market-led land redistribution programme, which contributes to the redistribution of 30% of White owned agricultural land to Black people by March 2014. In the North West Province, this translated into redistribution of 2 035 680 hectares (i.e. 30% of 6 785 600 ha of White owned agricultural land in the province) by the year 2014, of which by March 2007, 172 656 hectares had already been transferred through land redistribution programmes. Political and administrative authority for administration of the LRAD programme has been decentralised from the National to the Provincial sphere. This is consistent with the intergovernmental arrangements of the Republic of South Africa. It presents a governance regime within which the LRAD programme has to be administered. For public administration to be effective in achieving the above-mentioned targets, implementing institutions, namely the North West Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Environment (the DACE) and the North West Provincial Land Reform Offi ce (NWPLRO), had to effectively integrate systems and procedures, as well as co-ordinate the administrative activities required for joint administration of the programme. There was ineffective integration of policies, programmes, systems, and procedures between the DACE and the NWPLRO, which undermined the administration of the LRAD programme in the North West Province. In addition, the DACE suffered from administrative incapacity, which was partly due to the nature of the governance regime pertaining to LRAD programme administration. Administrative incapacity was also affected by the administration of government policy generally. The most important challenge was the inter-governmental relations arrangements, which imposed limits in terms of the allocation of fi nancial resources. The administrative incapacity also undermined the endeavour to collaborate as far as LRAD programme administration is concerned. This negatively impacted the planning phase as a result of shortage of critical personnel. Due to ineffective administration of the programme, the North West Province will not reach its target of 30% of White owned agricultural land to be redistributed by March 2014. Effective administration is instrumental towards the achievement of land redistribution goals and objectives of Government.
Dialogue between the ANC, COSATU and the SACP : the impact on leadership, governance and public policy in South Africa
(African Consortium of Public Administration, 2011-12) Kuye, Jerry O.; Cedras, Jody P.; kuyej@up.ac.za
Since 1994 the South African state has been governed through an Alliance of the African National Congress (ANC), South African Communist Party (SACP) and Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU). Whilst each of these organisations claims autonomy and independence, it shares a common history and core ideological persuasions which has been articulated as the National Democratic Revolution (NDR). Whilst ANC members may not necessarily have membership of the SACP or COSATU, any member of the SACP or COSATU who desires to enter politics are required to be a member of the ANC. The SACP and COSATU do not contest elections. As part of the agreement, only the ANC contests elections and as such leads the Alliance. This has led to a number of challenges, specifically related to public administration. This article describes the nature of the tripartite alliance by considering the historical roots of the alliance itself and its performance in government; and by concluding that there is an understanding of the leadership role of the ANC within the Alliance. The ANC itself is a reflection of the “broad church” nature of such an Alliance.
Managerial capacity as a prerequisite for fiscal decentralisation
(African Consortium of Public Administration, 2011-12) Fourie, D.J. (David Johannes); Whittle, Christopher Edwin; prof.djfourie@up.ac.za
Section 152 (1) of South Africa’s Constitution states that one of the aims of local government is to ensure sustainable service provision to communities. Section 152 (2) states that municipalities must strive, within their financial and administrative capacity, to achieve the objects in subsection (1). In reality, municipalities struggle to provide services because of substantial infrastructure backlogs, high levels of indigence and a limited revenue base. Section 214 requires revenue to be equitably divided among the national, provincial and local spheres of government, as determined annually by a Division of Revenue Act that depends on consultation with the Finance and Fiscal Commission, organised local government and the provincial governments. This article investigates whether South African local government has the capacity to fulfil its constitutional mandate and how current fiscal arrangements among the different spheres of government affect its ability to perform its duties. The capacity of the South African government is contrasted with the model adopted by the Rwandan government, where central government transfers funding directly to local government. Consequently local government is directly accountable to central government for performing its mandate. In particular, the capacity challenges at the local government level are analysed and discussed.
The role of traditional authorities in the implementation of Integrated Development Planning Policy (IDP) in Vhembe District Municipality, Limpopo province
(African Consortium of Public Administration, 2011-12) Brynard, P.A. (Petrus); Musitha, Mavhungu Elias; petrus.brynard@up.ac.za
The South African post-apartheid government attempted to integrate traditional authorities and local government. The concept is to promote co-operative and inclusive government among rural communities and contemporary local government systems. Government believes traditional authorities have a role to play in democracy, particularly with regard to community service delivery in these societies and democracy particularly with regard to community service delivery. However, this attempt has encountered several constraints. This article identifies those factors that are constraining this attempt. Fifteen traditional leaders who represent rural communities in municipalities in the Vhembe District Municipality were interviewed through a semi-structured questionnaire to measure their perception with regard to their role in local government. In addition, representatives of traditional leaders’ structures, municipal managers, municipal IDP managers, municipal mayors and the Vhembe District Municipal Mayor were also interviewed. The results of this study reveal that perceptions on the role played by traditional leaders in the local government IDP processes vary considerably. The results revealed that perceptions on their participation (45,5%), involvement (45,25%), submission of views (41,2%), and participation in ward committees (4,8%), council attendance (90,0%), playing a role in the proceedings (50,0%), submission of IDP proposals (38,7%) and consultation by local government offi cials (93,2%) were indeed very diverse. The overall finding is that the real participation by traditional leaders in the IDP process is still relatively limited.
Educator training challenges in implementing the national curriculum statement policy
(African Consortium of Public Administration, 2011-12) Brynard, P.A. (Petrus); Netshikhophani, A.F.; petrus.brynard@up.ac.za
Curriculum change aimed at improving the education system in order to promote quality education is generally regarded as a positive move in a country that has undergone a political transition. This is the case because education is a prerequisite for sustainable development in any country, and South Africa is no exception. The new South African curriculum set out in the National Curriculum Statement 2002 Policy was designed to redress the educational imbalances that were prominent in South Africa’s past by providing quality education. However, the success of any new curriculum depends on the provision of training to public school educators by capable and knowledgeable trainers regarding the correct implementation of the new curriculum policy. This article highlights some of the challenges faced in training educators. The Vhembe District in the Limpopo Department of Education was selected as a case study for this article.

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